


deflect the system

by akamine_chan



Category: Bandom, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album), My Chemical Romance
Genre: Community: bandom_meme, M/M, Past Brainwashing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-26 17:25:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3858781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akamine_chan/pseuds/akamine_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's tied to a chair, the man who used to be Fun Ghoul.</p>
            </blockquote>





	deflect the system

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the anonymous prompt of _Party Poison/Fun Ghoul, brainwashing_.
> 
> Beta by Ande, title from _Zero Percent_ by My Chemical Romance

He's tied to a chair, the man who used to be Fun Ghoul.

He doesn't remember his name, or anything from his past outside of being a model citizen in Battery City. He's won awards for being an exemplary worker. He's sure, though, that being kidnapped from his home and brought out into the Zones is the absolutely worst thing that's ever happened to him; he knows he's gonna die. He doesn't believe Jet when he carefully explains that Ghoul was captured by the Dracs, and brainwashed.

It happens. A raid gone bad, a surprise Drac patrol, bad luck like running out of gasoline at the worst possible moment. One of the Killjoys gets grabbed and sent to reeducation, drugged and tortured and indoctrinated, pulled apart and put back together again, cleaner, whiter, sterilized. 

Last time it was Kobra, and before that Jet. 

It's rarely Poison, because when they catch him, the Dracs like to play with him. Standing orders are that he's to be kept alive for Korse, but he's too dangerous to be sent to reeducation and put back into the general populace of Battery City. He's killed a lot of Dracs over the years, and collectively, they remember.

It's bad when they grab Poison; none of them like to think about it.

Poison worries that one day the medtechs will figure out a way to permanently remove memories during reeducation, wipe them completely clean like the sterile white walls in Battery City. He tries not to think about it too much, but it's always in the back of his mind, nibbling away at his sanity like a city-bred rat.

Undoing BLI's reeducation isn't easy, but it can be done. The first step is to let all of the drugs clear Ghoul's system—two weeks of intense detox. It sucks, it fucking _sucks_ , but it's the surprisingly easy part of the process. It's a matter of keeping Ghoul restrained (Poison learned that one early on, and still has the scar), and hydrated. 

The first few days, the man who was Fun Ghoul passively resists them. He wants to go _home_ , back to his clean white living unit in Battery City, away from the dirt and the heat and the dust. The Killjoys scare him, desert terrorist scum that they are, and he's stubborn as fuck, refuses to cooperate with even the simplest of tasks. 

He responds to every question with, "Gaffney, Frederick A, ID number 287804876143" like a good little drone.

"Frederick A. Gaffney?" Poison repeats dubiously. "Really?" 

"Gaffney, Frederick A, ID number 287804876143," the man says again, and Poison can't help but roll his eyes. BLI always comes up with the stupidest fucking names.

"Okay, Frederick A. Gaffney, let's get some food into you."

Poison's not willing to untie him, so he has to feed Ghoul by hand, and ends up with more Power Pup on his clothes than in Ghoul's stomach. Poison still calls it a win.

As the drugs slowly seep out of Ghoul's system, the shakes set in, followed by fever, hallucinations, and vomiting. It's awful, and Poison would do almost anything to keep Ghoul from this, but he can't. He feels helpless, and once he's managed to get Ghoul to sleep for a little while, he goes outside and punches a wall. Once, twice, three times, until the excruciating pain in his hand overwhelms him.

It works as a distraction, for a little while.

Kobra bandages his hand, gives him a reproachful look, but Poison just shrugs. This is part of their life, too, along with the constant fear of starvation or capture, acid rain and pig bombs. This is what freedom means, and Poison wouldn't ever trade it for the 'safety' of Battery City.

Frederick A. Gaffney doesn't remark upon the bloody bandage wrapped around Poison's hand, though he gives it a _look_. He seems a little better, but he's still in the grip of the mood stabilizers and dampers, so Poison just waits. He pulls out Ghoul's favorite book, long since banned in Battery City, and reads to him. It's too soon for Ghoul's memories to start resurfacing, but the act of reading out loud soothes Poison's nerves a little.

Poison can tell when the drugs are out of Ghoul's system; he gets ornery. This is where it gets really hard, because Ghoul is a stubborn son-of-a-bitch, and they have to keep him awake for hours on end, beat down his resistance, tear down his walls. Instead of building a new personality, they try to bring the original back to the surface. It's horrifyingly similar to the reeducation process, just sort of reversed, and Poison doesn't let himself think about it. 

They take turns sitting next to Ghoul, sharing funny little stories about their life together in the Zones. Ghoul is only distantly interested, because he still feels like it has nothing to do with him. They're adventures that happened to someone else, not Frederick A. Gaffney.

Frederick A. Gaffney's never shot a raygun, he lives in Battery City and is a model citizen. He takes his mandated medication, reports in to his counselor when he experiences unscheduled emotions, and in general, follows the rules as best he can.

Poison is rolling on the floor, laughing so hard he's choking, and even Kobra's having a hard time holding back a smile. None of that describes Ghoul.

"Fuck you," he says from his chair, and _there_ , there's Ghoul, peeking out from behind Frederick A. Gaffney.

That's when Poison knows it's time to bring out the big guns.

"The first time I saw you," Poison says, "was at a cut-rate tattoo joint out in Four." He lights a cigarette and holds it out toward Ghoul, who hesitates, because Frederick A. Gaffney doesn't smoke. It's strictly against regulations. 

Poison holds the cigarette up to Ghoul's lips, lets him take a drag or two before taking one himself. "You were the prettiest thing I'd seen in forever, still in your Battery City whites, arguing with the tatt artist about what you wanted, and where. You were so fucking passionate about it, explaining to her why it was so important—" Poison inhales and stubs out the cigarette. "I think that's when I fell in love with you."

Poison ignores the strangled sound Ghoul makes, doesn't look at him as he recounts the story of their first meeting, the deliberately engineered 'accidental' run-ins, the growing friendship and camaraderie between them as they ran raids against supply convoys. 

Poison isn't ashamed of their history, and Ghoul fucking knows all of this, but right now, he's baring his soul to Frederick A. Gaffney, who's a stranger to him. It's uncomfortable in a lot of ways, but Ghoul's worth it, so Poison keeps going. "It took me two years before you let me kiss you." He tells that story, their first kiss, and their first real fight, after Ghoul had almost gotten ghosted by Dracs in Zone Six, doing something exceptionally foolhardy. He talks until he's hoarse, fragments of their life together, the good, bad, and beautiful all mixed together, woven through with the thread of family and hope. "All of us. You, me, Kobra, Jet," he says. "We're all we've got."

"Poison," Ghoul says, and there's something familiar and fond in his voice; Poison's heart skips a beat. "Untie me, baby."

Poison looks, and grins, because Ghoul's back. It's clear from the wink, and the smirk on his face. "Fucker, you scared me."

Ghoul shrugs. "You know I'll always come back for you."

"Yeah." He _does_ know. He just forgets sometimes. "Just keep reminding me." He unties Ghoul's hands, and rubs at the rope marks on his wrists.

"Always, motorbaby."

Poison laughs, and pulls Ghoul close for a kiss.

-fin-


End file.
